MLB Draft: St. Louis Cardinals Grab Two More Players from Pace University

Many of fans around the nation are trying to figure out why the Cardinals took two players from Pace University in Pleasantville, N.Y. in this year's draft.

The fact of the matter is these two Pace alums are not the first two taken by the Cardinals, as their teammate Matt Arburr was selected in the 17th round last year.

What is Pace University, and why are their players being drafted?

The Setters just made the switch to Division II from Division I, and since the switch has been made, there have been seven players in three years taken in the draft.

Pace competes in the Northeast-10 Conference, which was one of the first conferences to go to wood bat in conference play. This entices scouts to look at hitters and pitchers, because there are very few places you can see a player using wood, just as he will do in the pros.

This year's selections were both position players. Matt Rigoli was taken in the 21st round, and Jack Cawley was taken in the 32nd round. Both are seniors.

Rigoli is a first baseman who hit .295 for the Setters this year. Cawley finished a strong campaign hitting .333 and being selected to the Northeast Region first team.

Both hope to have successful careers and it brings the question, why do the Cardinals like the Setters so much?